The Guanzhong area consists of three counties, with Fufeng County to the west, Jingzhao Prefecture in the middle, and Fengyi County to the east. Among them, the Fufeng County army is the power of Li Shimin, which is called the army of Guanxi, and the army of Fengyi County is called the army of Guandong, which is naturally the power of Li Jiancheng.

There are three main garrisons in Fengyi County. One is Yongtong Cang, with 10,000 troops stationed, led by the general Sheng Yanshi, followed by Pujin Pass, which is also 10,000 troops stationed, led by the general Chang He, and Tongguan, with 10,000 troops stationed, led by the general Luo Yi.

After Luo Yi returned to the Tang Dynasty, he was coldly treated by the Tang court. Li Yuan appointed him as a free official and the title of king was left alone. However, Prince Jiancheng repeatedly recommended him and finally convinced Li Yuan.

At the suggestion of the prince, he was appointed as the chief general of Tongguan. Luo Yi also reciprocates and takes the initiative to surrender to the Li Jiancheng faction, becoming a capable general under Li Jiancheng.

It was Sheng Yan, He Chang and Luo Yi who worked hard to serve Li Jiancheng, who had his own direct army.

With the 30,000 new recruits of the fourth brother Yuanji and the 30,000 Guannei army of his uncle Li Shentong, Li Jiancheng had nearly 100,000 troops and the support of all the officials of the court, making his power stronger than his second brother Li Shimin.

But at this time Li Jiancheng was a little more worried. He suddenly discovered that the King of Qin had taken advantage of the opportunity of the Central Plains War and began to devour his military forces, which made him extremely dissatisfied. Li Jiancheng had no intention of continuing to inspect the Xia Zong and returned to Chang'an that day.

Li Jiancheng returned directly to the palace. It was already afternoon and the weather was very hot. Li Jiancheng stood in front of Wude Hall and was sweating profusely. At this time, an old eunuch hurried over, "Your Highness the Prince!"

The old eunuch ran approaching panting and bowed, "Let Your Highness wait for a long time, the Lord asks Your Highness to meet you."

Li Jiancheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked quickly towards the imperial study. He seemed to think of something, slowed down, and waited for the eunuch to step forward and asked in a low voice, "Has the Lord decided on the matter of increasing troops?"

The eunuch whispered: "It seems that there is not yet."

Li Jiancheng knew it in his mind, and the father still had to listen to his opinions on this matter. He accelerated his pace again.

The emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties were different from those of the Qing dynasty. It was difficult for the emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties to achieve a one-man rule. He had to listen to the opinions of the important officials below, and even had to try hard to convince the prime minister to support him. Otherwise, the inner ministers and the subordinate ministers would not stamp the seal, and the emperor could not even pass on the imperial edict.

Of course, the emperor also has his own power. If the prime minister really refuses to compromise, he will replace the prime minister and replace it with an obedient prime minister. For example, Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong in the mid-Tang Dynasty.

In the late Tang Dynasty, in order to expand the imperial power, the emperor did not hesitate to use eunuchs to undermine the power of the prime minister. As a result, he became a puppet of eunuchs. This sentence became longer. Let’s go back to Li Yuan first.

At this time, Li Yuan was also waiting for the prince to return. The reason why he did not immediately agree to Yu Wenshi and the increase in troops was because he knew that if he wanted to increase troops again, he must get the support of the prince. He was very clear about the factional structure in the army.

As an emperor, Li Yuan did not dislike this faction, and he supported the existence of this faction very much. This is the core of the art of emperors, and he divided the subjects and subordinates into it. In this way, the ministers would only have the desire to fight each other and have a supreme spirit. Since ancient times, leaders have been familiar with this art.

Of course, Li Yuan also has to abide by the rules. Since he is Li Jiancheng's power, he must obtain the consent of Li Jian's person before he can consider increasing troops. Moreover, such words cannot be said explicitly. He can only go around in circles and say some glamorous reasons. This is politics. The words on the stage are always just an excuse, and he can only understand the truth through the final result.

Li Jiancheng walked into the imperial study room and gave a deep bow, "Son Master, please see the father!"

Seeing that his skin was quite dark, Li Yuan smiled and asked, "How about the inspection in Xianyang?"

"Reporting to my father, it is the busy time of farming. My sons and ministers are also going to the fields with farmers to plant rice seedlings, experiencing the hardships of farming, and gaining a lot."

When Li Yuan heard that his son had gone to the fields to plant rice with farmers, he was relieved, so he nodded and smiled: "I am deeply pleased that the emperor can go so far as the emperor is concerned, and I hope that the Li family can visit the people more like the emperor, and not be arrogant. I will have a good talk with them in a few days."

"The father has this heart, which is a blessing for the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

After the two said a few words, Li Yuan's topic turned to the Central Plains Battle. He sighed slightly and said, "Now the Central Plains War is not good. Changyuan County's logistics site was attacked by the Sui army. The chief general Shi Dana was captured. Xiaogong's side suffered a crushing defeat in Weishi County. Although neither of these two defeats hurt the roots, morale was hit. Even I felt very depressed, not to mention the soldiers in the army. The situation was very unfavorable to us!"

"What is the plan for the father? Should he decide to withdraw his troops or continue to fight?" Li Jiancheng asked carefully.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, "Your second brother and Xiaogong both want to withdraw your troops, but I don't want to give up just like this. If you don't fight a battle and give up like this, I feel it's hard to explain to the people of the country, but I'm not sure of winning. Your second brother means that we can increase our troops appropriately, 20,000 or 30,000. Does the emperor think it's feasible? I want to hear your opinions."

Li Jiancheng thought all the way and was already confident. He could not say that he would not increase his troops. If the King of Qin failed, he would put the blame on him.

But he could not agree at once, otherwise his power would be weakened. The best way was to withdraw the army. However, it was obvious that the father refused to withdraw his troops, so he could only use a solution.

"Father, my son is actually the most worried thing. Yang Yuanqing dragged all the main forces of our Tang army on the battlefield in the Central Plains, and then he used tens of thousands of elite soldiers to attack Chang'an from the pass. At that time, Chang'an was empty, how should we resist?"

"this......"

Li Yuan also hesitated. This is indeed a problem. The Sui army had already broken the armistice agreement before, so their sneak attack on Chang'an could become a reality.

Li Jiancheng said again: "Even if the Sui army has few soldiers and cannot conquer Chang'an, as long as they enter Guanzhong, this will be a huge blow to the Tang army in the Central Plains. At that time, the morale of the Tang army was already in chaos and retreated in panic. Instead, they were pursued by the Sui army, they would be defeated miserably. If the main force of the Sui army pursued Guanzhong all the way, the situation would be extremely dangerous."

After a while, Li Yuan looked disappointed on his face and asked helplessly: "What the emperor means is to support their withdrawal?"

Li Jiancheng shook his head, "I don't mean this. I mean that if you let reinforcements leave Tongguan, you don't have to participate in the war. You mainly use your strength to suppress the Sui army, and at the same time increase the morale of the Tang army, station troops in Qixiang County or Hangu Pass. Once Guanzhong is in crisis, you can withdraw your troops immediately. I wonder what my father thinks?"

Li Yuan understood what Li Jiancheng meant. He was afraid that his power would be eaten by the King of Qin. At this time, he suddenly had an idea. Is the King of Qin asking for more troops to be arbitrary?

After figuring this out, Li Yuan felt a little annoyed. When it was already time, it was related to the future of the Tang Dynasty. The two brothers were still intrigue and ignored the overall situation.

The discord between the Li brothers is actually largely related to Li Yuan's deliberate provocation, but at the critical moment, Li Yuan hopes that their brothers can give up their past grudges and work together, which is the same as hoping that the horse will run fast and hope that the horse will not eat grass.

Even if he was angry, Li Yuan had no choice but to do anything. He knew that this was Jiancheng's concession. If he did not agree, all the civil and military officials in the court would come to put pressure on the garrison and demand the withdrawal of troops.

"Okay! What the emperor said makes sense, just do what you said."

Li Jiancheng immediately said: "My son Bao reported to Yuan Ji as the main general and led 30,000 new troops out of Tongguan to support Hongnong Tang Army."

Li Jiancheng was careful in thinking. He knew that if Luo Yi was asked to lead his troops there, with his second brother's viciousness and decisiveness, he would be very likely to kill people and seize military power. If the fourth brother went there, there would be no such consequences.

Li Yuan pondered for a long time, but he did not agree with Li Jiancheng's suggestion, "It is not appropriate for Yuan Ji to go, so it's better to change another leader."

Although reinforcements were just to strengthen their momentum and restrain the Sui army, they were afraid that the situation would be critical and needed support when they needed support. If Yuan Ji was the general, they would most likely ignore the King of Qin and lead to the final defeat. Li Yuan was not confused at this point, and he knew it very well.

Li Jiancheng was helpless after his father's opposition. He thought for a while, "Then he suggested that He Chang be the leader."

......

After some internal bargaining, the Tang Dynasty finally reached a compromise. Li Yuan immediately appointed He Chang, the chief general of Pujin Pass, as the general of the Left Wu Guard, and led 30,000 new troops out of Tongguan to support the Hongnong Tang army, adding some variables to the Battle of Central Plains.

At the same time, some subtle changes occurred in Qingzhou controlled by Dou Jiande. In Licheng County, a nursery rhyme was widely circulated among neighboring restaurants. "There is a demonic path in Youzhou, who says that he subdued the demon god, drove the clouds out of the white sea, and became the Qing Emperor."

This nursery rhyme is quite strange, like a prophecy. After circulating in the market for several days, it finally reached Dou Jiande's ears.

The Central Plains War broke out. As a bystander, Dou Jiande has been closely watching the development of the war. His greatest hope is that the Sui army will be defeated and the remaining troops will retreat to Hedong. At this time, Hebei is empty, so he can fight back to Hebei and revitalize the imperial career.

But Dou Jiande was already killed by Yang Yuanqing. Although Hebei's troops were indeed empty at this time, only when the general Qin Qiong led 20,000 troops to station in Dongjun, he still did not dare to cross the Yellow River north. Unless Yang Yuanqing was defeated by the Tang army, he would develop courage at that time.

In the room, Dou Jiande stood in front of the sand table and carefully deduced the possible results of the Central Plains War, but the results of the deduction really frustrated him. He also found that the Tang army was in an unfavorable situation, and the Sui army had already taken the strategic initiative.

At this time, a personal soldier outside the door reported: "Prince, Mr. Kong has arrived."

Dou Jiande retracted his thoughts. He asked Kong Deshao to come. There was another important thing, so he nodded and said, "Please come in."

The door opened, and Dou Jiande's plotter, Kong Deshao walked in and bowed and said, "I'm not good at judging you!"

"Sir, don't be too polite, please sit down!"

Dou Jiande asked Kong Deshao to sit down and ordered someone to serve tea. Then he took a report from the table and handed it to Kong Deshao. "A prophecy appeared in Licheng County recently, which is quite strange. I can't figure it out. Can you ask the sir to interpret it for me?"

Kong Deshao took the report and saw it read: There is a demonic way in Youzhou, who said that he would subdue the demon god, drive the clouds out of the white sea, and fall into the blue emperor.

.........{Piaotian Literature www.PiaoTian.com Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!